Pakistani mullah ‘planted charred texts’ on girl accused of blasphemy

An update on the case against Rimsha Masih via. Mohammad Rashid, who adds the comment, “Time to abolish this idiotic law!” Agreed.

It seems the local cleric, Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti, who was a chief instigator in the recent anti-Christian agitation and persecution of Rimsha Masih had a very belligerent attitude against local Christians who he accused of making “too much noise” when the they worship (where have we heard that before?). Like other absolutists he couldn’t countenance living near people who were different than him. This was revealed by another cleric Maulvi Zubair from a mosque nearby who said he objected to to Chishti’s plans.

Chishti is in custody now, pending investigation on charges that he planted charred pages on the young girl. This gives the story an added twist of depravity, what kind of adult would do something so cynical, so base? I hope he is also charged for inciting violence.

In an extraordinary development in the case, which has attracted international condemnation, Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti arrived in court blindfolded and under tight security after being arrested late on Saturday night. The judge ruled he should be held in police custody for two weeks.

Police say two of his colleagues gave statements that he added pages from the Qu’ran to strengthen the case against Rimsha Masih, who has been in custody for two weeks after she was accused by Muslim neighbours in her Islamabad neighbourhood of burning the holy book.

The crime is particularly serious under the country’s much-criticised blasphemy laws and offenders can be sentenced to death.

Maulvi Zubair and two other assistants at a mosque near Rimsha’s house told police Chishti deliberately added pages from the Qu’ran to some charred refuse she was carrying.

Zubair is said to have objected at the time but Chishti insisted it was the only way to get rid of Christians in the area.

Rimsha’s lawyers maintain that she did not commit any crime. They say that not only is she only 13 years old, and should be tried as a juvenile, she also has Down’s syndrome and therefore “cannot commit such a crime”, according to her bail application.

Chishti has been outspoken about his dislike of the hundreds of Christian families who live in the area, even appearing on a popular national television show to complain that the noise made by Christian worshippers had disturbed Muslim residents.

He also welcomed the departure of most of the Christians from the area following the furore surrounding the arrest of Rimsha last month. With passions running high in the community – hundreds of people demonstrated outside her house, reportedly demanding the right to burn the young girl to death – most Christians fled the area.

“We are not upset the Christians have left and we will be pleased if they don’t come back,” Chishti told the Guardian on 18 August.

Tahir Naveed Chaudhry from the All Pakistan Minority Committee said Rimsha’s lawyers had always maintained the evidence was planted. “And now it is proved that the whole story was only designed to dislocate the Christian people,” he said.

“[Chishti] must be prosecuted under the blasphemy law as it will set a precedent against anyone else who tries to misuse that law.”

The blasphemy laws have been widely abused as a powerful way to settle scores and disputes. People have been sentenced to long jail terms on extremely weak evidence, some of which cannot even be properly examined in court for fear of repeating any blasphemy.

But public criticism of the laws is itself dangerous – two prominent politicians have been assassinated by religious hardliners after speaking out.

Mumtaz Qadri, a former security guard who last year gunned down his boss, Salman Taseer, the governor of the Punjab at the time, is regarded by many Pakistanis as a hero for killing a man who had publicly criticised the blasphemy laws and backed a Christian woman who was sentenced to death.

“That was because in March he was alleged to have insulted the Prophet Muhammad in an exam paper, an accusation strongly denied by his family.”

Unfortunately thats all it takes, there are many other examples. Unfortunately these savages are more concerned about the feelings of a long dead arab than about having any kind of empathy with the living and that is a perversion of what it means to be human.

//Jane 5 September 2012 at 3:15 pm

Mullah-Military nexus used the Pedo Mo doctrine to create an Islamic Frankenstein. While non-muzzies are close to extinction, this society has been witnessing muzzie-muzzie killings every week in the name of “right” interpretation of pisslam. I see more carnage before sanity returns.

Pak needs charity money to survive. So it’ll stage manage a trial-punishment for this guy, and appear as “reforms” oriented to keep the dole coming.

The poor girl would be “Released”. But she’d be scarred for life.

Bloody pisslamic societies and retarded rules.

//Aikido Arjun 5 September 2012 at 3:16 pm

Well the cleric had to destroy a Quran to get the pages so did he not violate the law and thus deserve death? Not that I think he should die because he ripped out the pages but he needs some pretty stern punishment as he was willing to see that child die because of his bigotry. HMMMM does this revelation affect the situation such that the 900 displaced christians will be able to return to their homes? Then again since their already gone they may as well stay that way. This case will never see any Justice but it will make some bigoted Pakastani Muslims happy.